Gordon Jump said one factor makes more difference in people's lives than their friends, money or education.

And it's something they can control.

"It is demonstrated so that the world can see it: It is attitude," said Jump, actor and motivational speaker who addressed Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at Amarillo students, faculty and staff Tuesday night.

Jump was in town to speak to students about acquiring success.

"If your attitude is not worthy of success, you will never receive it," he said.

Jump starred as Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson, bumbling general manager of WKRP, a rock `n' roll station in the television sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati," which ran from 1978 to 1982 on CBS.

and was later revived in a syndicated series in the early 1990s. On "WKRP," "Big Guy" supervised such memorable characters as disc jockeys Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap and news director Les Nessman, the man who always seemed to be in bandages.

Jump also has gained fame as the pitchman for Maytag.

Jump mixed humor and personal experiences into his speech, which covered areas such as positive thinking, fulfilling potential and understanding the power of self-affirmations and visualizations of accomplishments. Jump used an overhead projector as a visual aid during his presentation to explain his concepts.

He said students need one fundamental asset to reach their goals.

"Passion is important because you need that to be the best at what you want to be," he said.

Jump said students need to understand their conscious and subconscious minds as well as the makeup of their left (logic) and right (creative) sides of their brains.

"The stuff we put in our brains is important to our futures," said Jump, who added this list includes what one reads, hears, thinks and visualizes. He said nothing negative or positive happens unless it is first visualized in a person's mind, thus a person can achieve success if he or she just visualizes it.

"There's no reason you cannot have what you want to have," he said.

To that end, Jump encouraged students to never "settle" for anything in life. He said if they want a certain item or mate, they should not settle for what they do not really want "because when you do, it becomes a habit."

Jump said he was devastated when "WKRP in Cincinnati" went off the air, but he got back on his feet and got work again, eventually landing the role as the Maytag Repairman.

, the man who never seems to have any work because Maytag goods (supposedly) never break down. Jump said he hopes students appreciate their blessings and understand that God "doesn't just give them to you; you have to earn them."

After his speech, Jump received a basket of food from Rodney Clingan, president of Student Regional Senate for the TTUHSC.

Jump, the uncle of first-year pharmacy student Brent Bryant, said afterward he still maintains contact with his "WKRP" co-stars, and he said he recently got together with them for a picture-signing session.

Jump, who now lives in Costa Mesa, Calif., said the "WKRP" actors always gave 100 percent, explaining he enjoyed the "wonderful years" he spent with them.

"They were the most giving group of actors I worked with," he said.

The event was sponsored by the Amarillo TTUHSC Regional Senate and Executive Committee and the Student Services Committee.